Barossa Valley Estate Masterclass

Barossa Valley Estate Masterclass

Back in 1984, a group of 80 third and fourth generation Barossa Valley grape growers decided to band together and establish a cooperative. By doing this, they could combine their skills to show the richness and complexity of the Barossa from the small plots that they owned, located all over the Valley. The cooperative named themselves Barossa Valley Estate, and their flagship wine, the world famous E&E Black Pepper Shiraz attained immediate praise and attention. Rated ‘Outstanding’ in the Langtons classification for Australia’s top wines, and called “one of the Barossa Valley’s gold standard reds of the current era” by world-famous UK wine critic Jancis Robinson, Barossa Valley Estate hold an esteemed position near the top of premium Barossa reds.

This wine was a real go-to wine for many Australians, indicated clearly by the near 4000 bottles currently in storage with Wine Ark. E & E stands for Elmore and Elaine, the original old-vine Shiraz blocks that were the core of the early vintages and are still part of the blend today- an echo of the importance of the brand’s link to the past. In 2013 however, after a period of customer disillusionment with the brand and years without a clear direction, a change was needed. New life was injected into the winery with the arrival of winemaker Ryan Waples. With years of experience with Taylor’s of the Clare Valley and Orlando Wines, Ryan was keen to be the breath of fresh air the brand needed.